Communication between a business and its users is of high importance. This solves problems encountered, clarifies instructional confusions, and answers queries that a user might need. One of the most convenient types of communication is chatting. Chat with people is the term when two or more people participate in the exchange of typed-in remarks or messages over a certain platform most of the time through an online website.
Chat messages are usually short so that the other end can reply quickly. Chatting, in general, has a casual tone into it. It is mostly informal, and that may be the reason that it is the most used method of communicating on the internet. Businesses that communicate with their users have a hard time composing replies to every client that messages them. This is the main reason why businesses use chatbots to chat with people.
What is a Chatbot?
An Artificial Intelligence Software (A software that simulates human cognitive processes like learning and reasoning) designed to mimic a conversation using a user’s natural language convincingly through websites, messaging applications, and mobile applications is called a “Chatbot.” Chatbots have many uses, including information acquisition and customer service purposes.
Some Chatterbots (a less known term for Chatbots) use advanced language processing systems that can be hardly distinguishable from a real human, but many less sophisticated ones have a method of scanning keywords then composing a reply with the most similar pattern of words or the most number of keywords matching originating from a database.
Types of Chatbots
Chatbots have evolved to have many variations but can be classified to 2 main classifications. The “Scripted” types are the simplest type of chatbot. This type takes conversations to pre-defined directions because its response to questions asked is programmed ahead, and it is scripted. It cannot improvise at all and mostly appears in chatting apps like Skype or Facebook Messenger. Automation is its only purpose. It is also useful to chat with people in purchasing or flight booking.
The other more complex classification is the “Intelligent” type. This type of Chatbot uses Artificial Intelligence Technology that allows it to supply a more flexible reply to a user’s inquiry. Additionally, it has the ability to “remember” past conversations and use them as a reference to supply a more precise and related answer in future conversations to come. Although this technology is more advanced than the other, it only gives answers and still lacking the feature to lead a conversation or comprehend more complicated contexts.
These are the types of Chatbots that exist today:
1. Personal Bots
A Personal Chatbot provides a direct conversation between a Chatbot and a single user. An example of a personal Chatbot is weather bots situated on Google Assistant and Facebook Messenger platforms.
2. Team Bots
Team bots offer a “one-to-multiple” method of communication. However, this type of chatbot initially problematic for designers because having multiple users involved in the conversation is different from one-on-one communication.
3. Brand/Domain-Specific Bots
These bots are favored when in need of a more complicated service. The “Airbnb’s Chatbot” is a good example of a brand-specific bot. It gives the users notification about discounts, assisting flight bookings, and helping find the best accommodations that suit the user’s needs. It is preferred more than apps because it doesn’t need to be downloaded.
Why should businesses utilize chatbots to chat with people?
Businesses are only exploiting the profitable opportunities that a Chatbot can provide despite the fact that they have existed for decades now. Chatbots are literally everywhere. From messaging apps to company websites, it is proven to be useful and is definitely a worthwhile investment. Facebook Messenger, an online application mainly used for chatting and is associated with Facebook, made chatbot available on their platform.
Facebook Messenger alone has a staggering 1.3 Billion active users and is on its way to being the biggest communication platform. These many active users pose as an opportunity for companies causing the number of bots to rise significantly. It is estimated that there are 100,000 chatbots actively functioning on the Messenger platform as of 2017.
It is a 233% rise from the 30,000 bots in the platform in April of the year 2016. A big portion of those serves customer service purposes. However, a few of them serves unique solutions, for instance, a chatbot designed to prevent workplace harassment situations. These are some examples of Chatbot Technology’s business applications as they chat with people:
1. Customer Service
A Chatbot can help assist a user with frequently asked questions.
2. Marketing
Understanding customers is a vital part of marketing. A Chatbot can recommend the customer’s preferred products based on their feedback.
3. Sales
A Chatbot is an excellent sale assistant that will simplify first updates and creation.
4. Human Resource
Answering common HR-related questions is boring and is a perfect use of a Chatbot.
5. Support Services
All requests related to facilities can be sent to a Chatbot, and it will also contact users when their requests are achieved.
6. Travel
Flight bookings and accommodation is a task that a Chatbot can accomplish and chat with people. It can also promote places to visit and give travel tips and advice.
7. Finance
A Chatbot can actually assist a user on managing investments, application of loans, and transferring money.
The Business Advantages of Using Chatbots to Chat with People
The world is constantly changing, and user expectation is changing with it. In today’s standards, companies that want to promote their products or services have to have an edge from their competitors. The best course of action is to renovate and improve its business model by introducing new technologies to enhance the user experience.
The number of apps steadily increases and they are treated as disposables. 8 out of 10 apps downloaded are being used only once or twice then deleted immediately. The only exception is messaging apps which consume approximately more than 80% of mobile usage time. The time spent using these apps grew by 394% a year after its initial release, giving businesses marketing and servicing opportunities. These are some of the advantages of having a Chatbot chat with people in your business:
Cost Effective
Using a Chatbot for customer service purposes is far cheaper than hiring an actual customer service employee. That’s why it is ideal to use chatbots to chat with people.
Easily Created
Depending on its intended purposes, a simple chatbot that would be placed on Facebook Messenger can be designed with a little to no background on programming.
Representation
A Chatbot accentuates the company’s image and brand. It is the perfect representation of brand promoting because it always emphasizes the company when it is chatting with people.
Straightforward
An optimized Chatbot will mention only necessary details and making it as brief as possible to avoid overwhelming the user.
Automatic
This is the most important benefit of a Chatbot. It can substitute an actual human to perform basic or mundane analytic work.
Precise
A Chatbot is not prone to “human error” because machine-operated systems are always accurate.
Regular
Chatbots are not human beings and don’t need rest. A customer service that is always open is an amazing asset to a company.
Tips in Creating a Chatbot that Chats with People Effectively
Designing and creating a Chatbot is no easy task. Without proper execution, research, and testing, a Chatbot may become useless. This may have minimal damage to the company, but it can positively affect its branding. Here are some tips on creating an effective Chatbot:
Give it a Personality
Your Chatbot needs a personality to add an extra “human” feel to it and to better understand the user’s behavior. Its personality should be fun and engaging to maximize efficiency. To chat with people effectively, a chatbot must be as human-like as possible.
Provide Waiting Time
The conversation sounds more natural by a waiting time because, in a real conversation, response time is very irregular. People seldom respond immediately after receiving a message. Providing a waiting time allows the user to digest the information provided by a Chatbot.
Perform Testing
If you are still skeptical about your Chatbot’s effect on users, you have to create multiple variations of your Chatbot and measure its results. Identify the version with the best results by comparing results.
Produce Short Content
A long text may be overwhelming to the users and can make them uninterested. Therefore, Chatbot should provide a minimum amount of text. But if it is unavoidable, emojis are excellent in breaking up a long text.
These are just some of the features that a smart Chatbot must possess. It is advisable to continue optimizing your bot depending on user feedback to come up with better results.
Chatbots that Actually Help
If you are thinking of investing in a Chatbot, then you’re on your way to success. In fact, Chatbot can help you achieve your goals and increase profits. Let your business reach more and chat with people in the different parts of the world. The most reliable and effective bots are in Herobot. At Herobot, we want nothing more than to help you succeed in your business and provide you with the best Chatbot suitable for your business. Visit us at https://herobot.app/ for more information.